


You Again? Good

by viktorkrumn



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/F, Fluff, Post-Book 2: Wayward Son, based on a prompt, dragon girlfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21971104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viktorkrumn/pseuds/viktorkrumn
Summary: The dragons that live around Margaret are finally waking up, and she recognizes one of them.
Relationships: Margaret the Dragon/OC
Kudos: 7





	You Again? Good

**Author's Note:**

> Written for @otherpeoplesheartachept-2 for the @carryonsecretsanta event on Tumblr.  
> The prompt: "Margaret the dragon has a girlfriend but they’ve been unable to see each other for years, finally they’re reunited."

The other dragons are waking. Margaret can feel it all over. At first, it’s a very low, very quiet vibration, shaking her legs and her fingers and knocking her teeth together whenever she’s in human form. She thinks it’s an incoming earthquake, but it lasts much too long for that. Days, weeks, maybe months. She doesn’t know. After so many years, time is a little blurry, but that doesn’t bother her. Next it turns into a rumbling sound, still distant and minor, but definitely growing stronger. At this point she starts to speculate what it really is. Then it becomes deafening. This part is shorter. A day or so, Margaret would say, if she really had to guess. Suddenly, one clear morning, they start waking up entirely. Popping up, Margaret calls it. Usually it’s just one or two at a time, but soon they’re all awake, and they start to talk and mingle among themselves. Most of them have been asleep for centuries, while others have been rooted in these mountains for much, much longer. There’s a lot of catching up to do after such a period of time.

Margaret takes tours of her new... neighborhood. She talks to a few dragons at a time, but so many new encounters exhaust her after a couple of centuries of quiet, and she goes home to rest very quickly. She doesn’t know most of the other dragons; a rare species doesn’t mean that there are subjectively few of them. One individual cannot know many hundreds of others, especially here, where she did not live for most of her life.

But one day, Margaret does meet someone she knows. She’s busy with her usual rounds, making introductions, warning the dragons against harming her human friend, engaging in conversations about the weather. (For dragons, these conversations aren’t as trivial as they are to humans, and they aren’t a symbol of politeness; the weather is as critical to their survival as food and beverage are, and they only discuss it with those they know or hope to get to know better.) In the distance, Margaret hears shrill, rolling laughter, an unmistakable noise. She immediately excuses herself from the circle she is standing in, bewildering her new friends, and goes back to her mountain. There, she sleeps and ponders, eats, ponders, naps, thinks some more, and finally, makes a decision.

The next day she goes around with a more specific purpose than before. Does anyone know her? Have they heard her incredible laughter? Have they met an irresistible yet infuriating dragon? It doesn’t take too long to find her. Ismelda is a people person. Or rather, a people dragon. A dragons dragon?

Margaret lands one mountain away. Flying has been difficult this past century or so, with all the pollution in the air. They may be dozens of miles from the nearest humans, but smoke travels, and it’s been hard on the lungs. That’s one reason why most of the dragons prefer to walk. There is also the slight chance of a human seeing them in the sky, and actually processing what they saw, and telling the world about them. The dragons wouldn’t care based on principle alone, but it might lead to some uncomfortable hassling. Tour guides. Memorabilia. It would be impossible to take naps with humans walking all over them.

This time, though, Margaret was in a hurry. So she flew, and she landed a short distance away, hidden by a thick woods. Her heart is beating quickly, but she’s sure that she wants to do this. She can be very stubborn, which is helpful, because she hardly ever regrets any decisions she makes.

Margaret takes a deep breath, steels her nerves, and walks over to Ismelda’s mountain. She can determine the exact moment that Ismelda notices her, and then, a split second later, the moment she recognizes her. A flurry of wings and excited exclamations surround Margaret, and before she can react she realizes that she’s engulfed in a hug. She doesn’t know how she feels about this. Ismelda did leave her all alone without explanation almost 400 years ago.

After a brief exchange of polite niceties, Margaret decides to get to the point. “I think you owe me an explanation.”

Ismelda looks confused. “I do? Look, I know I haven’t kept in touch, but I got back here and just went back to sleep. It was so cold, you wouldn’t believe it.”

Now Margaret is confused. “No, no, not that. You cannot be serious! Did our relationship really mean so little to you?”

“No, of course not. It was a lot of fun. I actually really liked you.” She studies her hands for a long moment. “I… I would have even considered staying in England for us, but I know you weren’t on the same page as me about that, so…. It’s okay. I’ve had a lot of time to get over it. Wait- where are you going? I’m sorry if I offended you-”

“I’m pacing.”

“You… huh?”

“I’m confused.” Margaret turns around and stares at the other dragon, but after a few seconds, her eyes start wandering uncomfortably. “You really liked me? A lot? But you came back here?”

“Yeah. Of course. I didn’t want to impose on you. And my vacation was supposed to be over, so…”

“But you weren’t imposing. I would have loved for you to stay.” Margaret sits down on the ground and holds her head.

Ismelda crouches down next to her. “Are you crying?”

“I’m just thinking. What you’re saying is, we both wanted you to stay and continue our relationship, but we each thought the other one wanted you to leave?”

“I guess so. We’re not very good at communicating, are we?”

Margaret lets go of her head and instead starts twisting her rings. A smile tugs at her lips. “Let’s stop doing that. It’s very inconvenient.”

Ismelda laughs the roaring laugh Margaret loves so much. “Yes, let’s. And in the spirit of that, how do you feel about me now?”

“That’s very forward.”

“I thought that was the point. I still have feelings for you, you know. I convinced myself that I didn’t, but seeing you again...” She drifts off and stares expectedly at Margaret. She thinks she knows what her answer is going to be.

“Yes.” She looks up at Ismelda and grins wildly. “Of course I still love you.” She seems taken aback by her own intensity, but her smile doesn’t falter. “Honesty, right? Then yes. I love you. I never stopped thinking about you.” She starts to say something else, but a kiss forces her to shut up.

Shepard comes to visit a week later. Margaret can tell he’s worried about something, and she tells him that. He gives her a half-smile. “Listen, Maggie, I’m going away for a bit. Do you remember the Mages that came by?”

“I remember. Not Mages. One Mage. And the kitten, and the…” She makes a sour face.

Shepard laughs. “Right. Well, they need to go back home now, and I’m going with them. They’ve already left, actually. My flight is tomorrow.”

“I don’t like them. Be safe”

“Yeah, I know you don’t, but I really do trust them, Maggie.”

Margaret nods. “I know. I trust you. Don’t trust them, trust you… When will you be back?”

“I’m not sure. This could take a while. Will you be alright by yourself, while I’m in England?”

“Who’s going to England?”

Shepard’s bewildered gaze travels over Margaret’s face and behind her, where he spots the speaker, partially camouflaged among the trees but coming closer. “Maggie, who’s this?”

“No need to panic. I’m Ismelda. You must be Shepard!”

“I am.” He still looks confused.

“Shep, this is Ismelda!” Margaret isn’t helping to alleviate his confusion.

“Yeah, I, I heard… Sorry, who are you? And please don’t say ‘I’m Ismelda’.”

“He’s funny!” Ismelda giggles. “I’m a dragon. I’m Margaret’s girlfriend.”

“Well, this is new!”

“You look mad, Shep. Are you mad?” Margaret crouches down and starts busying herself with something.

“No, of course not! I’m very happy for you. I just… when did this  _ happen _ ? I was here a couple of weeks ago.”

“Oh, a century or two ago.”

“ _ What _ ? So you just never told me about it? I’ve gotta admit, I’m a little bit hurt.” The twinkle in his eyes suggests otherwise.

“Oh, no no no, we only met again last week.”

“I’m confused again. Tell me everything.”

A fire blazes up between Margaret’s palms. So that’s what she was doing on the ground. “Sit.”

Shepard and Ismelda sit. Margaret talks. “Ismelda took a vacation in England almost two hundred years ago. She was traveling around the north and she heard about a range of dragons even further up. She decided she had to find it, even though it was already too cold for her. She’s dumb like that.”

“Hey!”

“Anyhow, she did find us, but she was cold and miserable by the time she got there. I agreed to house her and care for her until she could keep going-”

“I didn’t need caring for. It was more like a few meals, a hot bath, and a bed for a night or two.”

“-but we had a nice time together, and she stayed longer than planned. Eventually we… fell in love, I guess. We didn’t tell each other how serious it was at the time, but we did have a relationship. She stayed with me for the rest of her trip. When she was supposed to go home, she wanted me to ask her to stay, and I wanted her to let me know she wasn’t going… Neither of us said anything, and Ismelda left.”

“Shepard, are you  _ crying _ ?”

“He gets like that sometimes. Humans are strange.”

“Keep going! I need to hear the rest of the story!”

“I’m getting there. Ismelda went back home - here - and fell asleep. I decided that I needed a change of scenery and I decided to have a vacation of my own in America. We had never discussed where exactly Ismelda was from, but for some reason, I felt that this was the right place for me to settle.”

“You haven’t told me that! It’s like we’re soulmates.” Ismelda snuggles up to Margaret, reaching a hand towards the fire.

“I didn’t tell you because we’ve only been together for a week.”

“Not accurate.”

“You know what I mean. There wasn’t time.”

“Aww, you guys are adorable when you bicker!” They both stare at him. “Sorry. Keep going.”

“Well, I slept for a bit, but it quickly got too warm for me. I liked it here. I decided to stay a bit longer. Then I met you, and I decided to stay even longer… Then the others started waking up and I realized Ismelda was here.”

“What others?”

“The other dragons.”

“They’re  _ awake _ ?” Shepard stands, as if he intends to go meet them right now.

“The mountains are absolutely  _ swarming _ with them,” Ismelda clarifies.

“Shepard, sit down. They’re not going to be as friendly to humans as we are. I’ll tell them about you and then we can introduce you when you get back.”

Shepard check his watch. “I’ve gotta go! I’ll let you know when I’m back, Maggie,” he kisses her on the cheek, “it’s been lovely to meet you, Ismelda.” He gives her a hug, then starts walking away, waving. He turns around halfway down the mountain and yells, “I won’t forget you promised to introduce me to the other dragons!”

Ismelda chuckles, wrapping her arms around Margaret’s shoulders. “He’s cute.”

“Yes. I just wish he knew how to stay out of trouble.” Margaret leans back into Ismelda and closes her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments warm my heart <3


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